Houston… we have pickles!

Well, I finally sat down and made out my yearly canning wish list so that I know what to keep an eye out for at local farmer’s markets and produce stands:

Tomatoes (chopped)

SpongeBob's Crispylicious and Oh-So-Garlicky Refrigerator Pickles

Butter Beans

Navy Beans

Pinto Beans

Garbanzo Beans

Refrigerator Pickles

My Secret Recipe Green Beans

Dilled Carrots

Boston Bakes Beans

Tomato Baked Beans

Fruit (various)

Sweet Potatoes

Blackberry/Strawberry/Raspberry Lemonade Concentrate

Okra Stew

Tomato Gravy

Soup (Beans and Greens)

Soup (Minestrone)

Soup (Split Pea)

Salmon Chowder Base

Tropical Sauce

Various Herb Pestos

Saturday we picked up 28 lbs of Roma tomatoes from a produce stand in Edmonds. Although they are not organic, which would have been my preference, I couldn’t pass up tomatoes at ~$0.61/lb. At least they aren’t on the Dirty Dozen list so I feel marginally better about that at least. We also got our hands on our first pickling cucumbers of the season and using 3 extra-large jars were able to can our first batch of about 7 quarts of my world-famous “SpongeBob’s Crispylicious and Oh-So-Garlicky Refrigerator Pickles”. A recipe that started as a lazy way to get rid of the last of some pickling cukes and leftover pickling brine and turned into the best pickle chips this side of Canter’s delicatessen. I had originally tried canning pickles (the kind you can store in the cupboard) but I realized that the reason I wasn’t impressed with them is the same reason I have NEVER liked any pickles that have been canned for long-term shelf-stability… they are cooked and no longer have that crispy texture that makes me go into a deep pickle swoon. There is a good reason that I have single-handedly kept Claussen in business all these years. Of course the downside the refrigerator pickles is that they must by definition be kept in the fridge and finding room for enough pickles to see me through the year when pickling cukes have limited availability is a challenge. I should state that I do plan on water bath canning a few quarts of pickles as I like to have that type around for my Polish Dill Pickle Soup. And if you have never tried a creamy and warm potato and dill pickle soup with crusty bread on a cold night you have never really experienced life as it should be lived… with pickles.

Miner's Lettuce

On Sunday I was able to harvest about 5lbs of purple kale, rainbow chard, and sorrel. I’ve sautéed the chard with some smoked salt and veggie seasoning from the Farmer’s market to serve over pasta, storing it in the fridge for impromptu eating. The sorrel and some miner’s lettuce has been turned into vegan sorrel pesto which I froze into ice-cube trays for storage in the freezer since you really cannot home can anything with a high oil content for safety reasons and the purple kale will go into home canned minestrone soup.

Interruption: ACK! ACK! ACK! I set the bags of fresh greens on the table and after dinner we went to reach for the bottle of mineral water and sitting right on top of the bottle cap with his antlers fully extended and a very excited look on his face was a SNAIL! I have to go faint now. I made Miss Skinny Pants release him back into the wild… hopefully in the neighbor’s yard and then bleach the bottle cap. Have I mentioned that snails and slugs and really anything from the one-foot-and-a-slime-trail genre gives me aseizure? Except Lowly Worm. He wore a shoe and a hat and was considerate about not leaving slime. Okay, and now we’re back…

After putting it out there that I needed a counter top composting bin I was able to find a nice ceramic one for $3.00 at Deseret Industries. AND, just as good, after reluctantly leaving Ian McDonald’s Desolation Road at Barnes & Noble the other night because it was $17.00 before taxes and the other CV has been sent home from work for an indefinite time while they sort out some kind of legal nonsense among the contractors and suits, I stumbled across it used today for only $4.00 when we stopped in at Third Place Commons in Lake Forest Park for some pickle sushi after working at the P-Patch all afternoon (yes, it’s really real and yes I had two orders of it). I discovered Third Place Books was having a 40% off sale on used books today. TPC is also a most excellent place for free and low-cost entertainment. Aside from the people watching, which is excellent, today there was a showing of Lilo & Stitch with popcorn and bean bags provided. Later in July we will be heading back over for a night of live Scandinavian Polka and vegan brownies. I mean really people, you can’t make this stuff up. Another night will be a 17 piece swing band and on Saturday mornings, Tai Chi… to help me with my chubby balance.

Okay, I’m off to make a crustless apricot pie and some dill pickle rye bread.

Peace

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Published by spongebobfishpants

If you're reading this you are no doubt well aware of who I am as I cannot imagine this being of any interest to the average person wandering by. But, in the odd event that you are, in fact, wandering by... well, suffice to say I am a student. Of many things. But mostly of all topics relating to streams, rivers, lakes, sundry puddles and odd human behavior. With an occasional foray into weird and interesting food. I'm married, regardless of what congress, Caribou Barbie... errr Sarah Palin or the American Taliban thinks. I try to do the right thing...when I can figure out what that is exactly. I'm allergic to politics and addicted to books. Mostly though, I have the coolest life. And a cat who I strongly suspect has snail breath as I am missing a fairly large golden apple snail and unless I've been sadly misinformed, those things don't use the floo network..
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